Posts Tagged ‘espn’

This article from ESPN about the state of the NFL under Roger Goodell had a line that made me go “hmm”.

“How it will convince mothers that their kids should be allowed to play football.”

So… no.

First, is this article suggesting that fathers have no say in their children playing football? Or that fathers are throwing their children onto the gridiron whether they like it or not? I don’t think so. Can we at least start saying “parents” instead of “mothers” unless we’re talking about breast-feeding?

Second, and this is my main point — how the hell is it the NFL’s job to convince parents to “let” their kids play football? Answer: it isn’t. I suppose the idea here is that to keep a fresh supply of players in the pro league you need kids playing pee-wee football. (Pee-Wee!) To me, the NFL’s job is to make sure parents are informed about the dangers of playing football, and then parents can make their own decisions. If nothing else, the NFL shouldn’t be PREVENTING that information from coming to light, something they have almost certainly done.

Really though, is it the NFL commissioner’s job to “convince mothers that their kids should be allowed to play football“? Fuck no.

The video shows Rice doing the following during practices: shoving and grabbing players, hurling basketballs at them (at least once at a player’s head), and verbally abusing them by “screaming obscenities and homophobic slurs.” The latter refers to a word that begins with the letter F and ends with “got.”

The firing was announced via Twitter. I still find that odd although it is convenient.

Based upon recently revealed information and a review of previously discovered issues, Rutgers has terminated the contract of Mike Rice.

You may have read about the trainwreck that is Sean Salisbury. Since the former ESPN talking head is also a dad (more on this later), I decided to weigh in.

Sean Salisbury was an NFL quarterback. He was OK. Not great, but OK. Well, maybe mediocre at best. Hey, he played professional football, which is no small thing.

Speaking of small things, he also allegedly likes to show pictures of his wiener to women at parties. (I should say “allegedly small thing.” No idea how big Little Sean is.)

There is no proof of Salisbury’s actions, and he has denied it vehemently. (Deadspin first mentioned it in 2007.) But in April, a woman gave an “eyewitness account” of the incident to Deadspin.com. Apparently Mr. Salisbury’s M.O. is to go up to a lady and say “want to see a picture of my baby?” Then he pulls out his cellphone, which has a snapshot of his wang.

Only a guy would ever do something like this. Think about it. Has any woman ever walked up to a guy at a party and whipped out a picture of her vagina?

Even if the cellphone thing turns out to be untrue, Sean Salisbury might be insane. Via Deadspin:

Hey I’m a dad trying to raise kids and get reputation cleared and a lawsuit will bring everyone to carpet. So feel free to go on ur deadspin and call me those names.

Keep what together. Is that one of ur condesending remarks. I am together happy on the beach and raising my kids.

and later:

These emails r from beach. I hope u can get it together lol

Deadspin commenters are generally very amusing, proving that at times The Hive (my name for the collective social networking-commenter-troll brain that is the Interweb these days) can produce cleverness, such as this:

I feel like I just walked in on my dad jerking off into the mirror. (lukeoneil47)

Well said.

Or as a commenter on ProFootballTalk points out, It’s pretty sad actually that there is no one in this guy’s life who will say “come on Sean, it’s starting to really get embarassing”. (Richm2256)

Also well said.

I want to say something about Sean’s “I am together happy on the beach and raising my kids” comment.

I try very hard to avoid spending time on my cellphone when on vacation with the family. I don’t often succeed, but I at least make an effort to limit myself to things that actually require my attention. The idea that Salisbury is engaging in an ongoing dialogue with the editor of a website while on the beach with his kids is wacky. So is the fact that he feels a need to mention them. Using your children as a shield is something I find irritating, and that’s what Sean is doing here. Are we supposed to have sympathy for him beacuse he’s a father? Frankly, after reading his emails to Deadspin, I have more sympathy for his kids.

Here’s a problem we’d all like to have: the Rooney family is trying to keep The Pittsburgh Steelers a family-owned NFL franchise for as long as possible. To do that, Dan Rooney and Art Rooney II are attempting to buy out their siblings. For about $35 million each. The idea is to keep local billionaire Stanley Druckenmiller from owning the team.

Part of the issue is that the NFL, with typical hypocrisy, wants to eliminate any connections to gambling interests. The Rooneys own racetracks, which Roger Goody-Goody-Goodell has a problem with.

The daddy-part of the story (other than that I wish the Rooneys would adopt me) is this:

Their father, Art Rooney Sr., was heavily involved in gambling and, according to legend, bought the Steelers in 1933 with $2,500 in racetrack winnings. But the NFL now frowns on any ownership association with gambling.

That last sentence is pretty funny, since NFL events such as, oh, I don’t know, the Super Bowl, generate insane amounts of money via gambling. As long as the NFL isn’t directly involved, I guess it’s OK, right?

My dad left me $1,000 which I never saw because my mother needed it for something. So, you know, I can’t relate to this at all. Talk about the DNA lottery. Not bitter, good for them, but sheesh. Come to New York and buy me a drink or something.